April 13, 2008

The resurrection of Christ and Catholic social teaching

Cardinal George's Schedule

  1. April 13: 9:30 a.m., Sunday Mass, St. Peter, Antioch
  2. April 14-21: Apostolic Visit of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, Washington, D.C. and New York
  3. April 23: 10 a.m., Invocation, Cook County Board Meeting, County Building, Chicago; 7 p.m., Confirmation Liturgy, Maternity BVM
  4. April 25: 6 p.m., The Catholic University of America, American Cardinals Dinner, Boston
Cardinal's Crest

Cardinal's Appointments

March 20 , 2008

His Eminence, Francis Cardinal George announces the following appointments:

Director

Rev. Ho Chan (Simeon) Cha, from the Diocese of Incheon, South Korea, to be director of St. Paul Chong Ha Sang Catholic Mission, Des Plaines, effective immediately.

The various accounts of Christ after he rose from the dead bear witness to someone who is totally free. The source of this freedom is the Holy Spirit. Christ’s risen body is so totally filled with the Spirit of God, that it is no longer subject to the rules of space and time that define our fallen cosmos. Limited by our own still mortal bodies, we can barely imagine what such an immortal body must be like.

Jesus has conquered sin and its consequences — the most deadly of which is death itself. He has done this for our sakes and is, therefore, the savior of the world. His concerns therefore extend to our lives in this world and the next. Catholic social teaching tells us what the world would look like if the risen Christ had his way.

Basically, we would be free and our freedom, like Christ’s, would contribute to the good of others. Freedom that has its source in the Holy Spirit, the spirit of love, is used to build a “civilization of love.” That is the title of a new book by Carl Anderson, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus. The book’s subtitle is: “What every Catholic can do to transform the world.” It has just been published by HarperCollins, and I recommend it heartily.

Anderson sets out Catholic social teaching so that its connection to Christ and its application to our contemporary society are clear. In this, he picks up what Pope Benedict XVI told young people at World Youth Day three years ago: “I invite you to carefully study the social doctrine of the church so that its principles may inspire and guide your action in the world. May the Holy Spirit make you creative in charity, persevering in your commitments and brave in your initiatives so that you will be able to offer your contributions to the building up of the ‘civilization of love.’ The horizon of love is truly boundless: it is the whole world!”

What would a civilization of love look like? What if the horizon of love were truly the whole world? To begin, the world would need fewer prisons. Recently, I read that one in every 100 adult Americans is in prison. That says something about freedom not used to strengthen love. If individual freedom were used to foster universal love, private killings of the unborn by abortion or the elderly by euthanasia could not possibly be permitted. There would be no rape and no promiscuity or manipulation of one person for another’s pleasure or profit. There would be no infidelity or abandonment of a spouse or children. There would be no sexual abuse of minors or of adults. There would be no theft or political corruption, no lying or slander. There would be no traffic in human beings or in drugs and no uncontrolled addiction to alcohol. There would be no wars except those fought clearly in self-defense. There would be no anti-Semitism or racial prejudices. There would be no poor who are unattended. There would be no wages that left unprotected a working family’s self-respect and dignity.

Some might think that such a world would be boring, but there is no way to know that, so different is the world of our experience from the world envisioned in Catholic social teaching. Such a world would be one in which we could live in trust and therefore learn to love. If love truly filled the world, as the Holy Spirit filled the body of the risen Lord, we would be free in ways we can barely imagine.

On April 5, Pope Benedict said to a group studying the situation of the family today: “…the ‘no’s’ pronounced by the Church in her moral guidelines, and upon which public opinion sometimes unilaterally fixes its attention, are in fact so many ‘yeses’ to the dignity of human beings, their lives and their capacity to love.”

A study of Catholic social teaching is needed to appreciate the consequences of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Such study is especially important in this year, as our country prepares for the general elections next November. In a democracy, people get the government they choose. As people who believe that Christ is risen, we choose the love and life he brings us and do our best to see that our society reflects that love and life.

I pray that your lives continue to be filled with the joy of this Easter season. God bless you all.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Francis Cardinal George, OMI

Archbishop of Chicago